unconventional
by byzinha
Summary: For a couple years and a half, they lived in Honeymoon Avenue until Noodle had to leave again. Almost five years later, she's close to accomplish her mission and more than ready to go home. / An "end of phase 4" family reunion.


**Author's note** : Hi. Me again. This is my final take on my 2nu fics, and it's a long ass family fix-it that I hope you have the patience to read through and enjoy.

I'm not sure when I'll be writing anything Gorillaz again, so I hope you enjoy this over 11k words very dearly, because I had a lot of fun writing it.

Please, keep in mind that English is not my first language and I do not have a beta reader. I tried to read through several times, but I probably let slip a lot of mistakes. If you look past them, I think you might enjoy the story.

 **Gorillaz and its characters are not mine.**

In case you want to read my other 2nu fics, you can find me as "greenmeadow" on ao3.

Have a nice read! And I hope you leave a review at the end, if you get there, telling me what you thought about this trip. ^^ See you around!

* * *

 **unconventional**

A Gorillaz/Pot Family oneshot

For a couple years and a half, during the Humanz tour and the afterwards, they lived in Honeymoon Avenue – despite the media and the age gap and the ghosts and the pills. They were doing all right. They'd be fine. They loved each other. That zen connection that they had from the start only grew as time passed, and not even the years that kept them apart when she was a teenager broke it.

If anything, it became stronger.

He was her best friend in the entire world. She was his best friend in the entire world. Nothing or anyone could ever interfere, break them.

They had always been family before, and they became one of those unconventional couples within their little home. That was okay. Nothing about them had ever been ordinary anyway.

Everything seemed on tracks. Mostly because it actually was.

But then, she left.

At least now she didn't keep him in the dark, as he found in a letter on the nightstand one morning.

 _Stu, my love,_

 _There's something I have to do. Those things that like to come up when I'm at my calmest and happiest, you know? I'm sorry I had to leave so suddenly, but unfortunately, it cannot wait. Fear not, for I believe I'll be back soon and with great news for everyone._

 _At least I think so. This thing, it has to work first. But I'm optimistic about it!_

 _I love you. I'll keep in touch whenever I can._

 _See you soon,_

 _N._

That was almost five years ago. Any contact that Noodle kept was short and sparse and made 2D uneasy and anxious. It had been enough to keep him from collapsing, enough to propel him forward in the hopes that she'd be coming back home any moment – as she kept saying every call, every text – but damn, it was hard.

There were only two people in this world that kept him sane: Russel and his mom. Little did 2D know that Russel got weekly reports from Noodle, meant to help to keep 2D at peace. The drummer being one of 2D's oldest and loyalist friend had a tricky mission and whole folder in his computer filled with the photos that Noodle would send to him.

Russel had stopped asking her when she'd tell him a couple of years ago. Whatever it was that made her leave, it had to do with him – not D, not Murdoc, not the band. She left to help _him_ , and once Noodle decided to do something, she'd get to the bottom of it no matter what until it was resolved. She couldn't give in to distractions. Until it was done, Russel knew, she wouldn't tell.

His folder was filled with photos of them, though. He wanted to share. He wanted so badly to share! So badly that he did, eventually – with Rachel Pot, who gasped and cried and stormed out just to come back less than a minute later because it wasn't their place to say anything.

Rachel looked at Russel with those blue eyes of hers filled with tears and then she smiled.

"Another one, then?" she asked and he smiled too.

"How many are there now? Ten?"

"I lost count."

"I think she's the last one, though. Baby girl said so."

His baby girl who was now 34, a decade older than he'd been when that band started more than a quarter of a century ago. His Noodle-girl who went on crusades based on hope, and got daily messages from her band mates.

In a parking lot of a pre-school in Honolulu, Noodle checked her phone as she waited for the time to pick up Blossom, when she got an email notification.

 _Hello, girlie, howdy? I'm not sure you still using this email, but I'm trying it anyway. I get why you don't answer my messages, I do, but hear me out just this time, okay?_

 _It's been seven years since Humanz came out, and I know we left a masterpiece for humanity, but I think it's time we get together again to record a new album. I know, I know, there comes Murdy again with the music talk, yada yada, but think about it, Noods. It's been so long._

 _You need reasons to come back besides the music, I have plenty. For once, I miss my badass guitarist. There, I said it. And I'm not replacing you again – not making that mistake twice. I miss you, okay? You and Russel bring balance to this dump, and him alone can't do it._

 _Which, yes, by that I mean Faceache. Stuart. Whatever. He's tripping, Noodle. Not as bad as it was during Plastic Beach, but not doing that good either. And I hate to admit that, but I'm tired of doing things by force with him. That's it, I'm admitting I'm too old for this shit._

 _I mean, you bet I'll Mick Jagger the shit out of music, but everyone knows when to stop the violence. To be fair, 2-Dents has had enough punches. Don't ever tell him I said that._

 _Look, just come home, okay? We have a new one, I think you already know that I bought this five stories building in Hastings. We turned the top floor into a studio, it's pretty neat. And each floor is an apartment. One for me, one for Russ, one for you and D and the ground floor… we're still figuring out what to do. The thing is, everyone has their space now, and we're close to the beach… and we enjoy making music together. And you should be here._

 _You're family._

 _Come home already, Noods. We're waiting._

 _Love, Murdy._

Noodle smiled with how soft the old man had become while she was away. She wondered if he would react differently to Blossom too, now that time had passed. The school bell rang while she quickly typed her one line answer and hit send.

 _Is there a spare room in D's apartment? N._

And the time it took for her to cross the parking lot to get to the front of the school was enough to get the email notification again.

 _Yes. Russel made sure of it. Why?_

"You're Blossom's mom?" the lady at the gate asked and Noodle nodded. "Her teacher wants to chat with you."

"Okay." Being the kid's experimental day, that was expected.

Noodle followed the lady through the corridors of the school, her phone in hand ready to write something witty back when another notification popped up with an address. With her heart beating like crazy and her vision suddenly enhanced, Noodle gasped.

That was it. That was the opportunity she had been waiting for the past decade.

Quickly, she typed her answer.

 _I might be home sooner than expected._

"Mrs. Pot?" the teacher called and Noodle frowned.

"No," she said right away. "Just Noodle."

The woman nodded.

"Where's Blossom?"

"In the classroom." The teacher pointed the door behind her. "I'd like to talk to you briefly about her and the school program."

The teacher seemed to be on a hurry to let the words out, and so was Noodle, who passed by her and peeked inside the classroom, where a few kids still were playing. It was easy to spot her blue-haired little girl.

"Blu?" Noodle called out and the girl looked up at her. Her cheeks were rosy and her braids a little messed, but she looked happy. "Get your things."

"Ms. Noodle," the teacher tried again. "I have a few questi-"

"Uh, let me see," Noodle interrupted. "No, I don't die my three years old's hair, it's naturally blue. Yes, it's possible. I don't know if she's gifted, to know three languages doesn't mean high IQ, and, oh! We're not staying. But thanks for the reception, the school is really nice. Blu, let's go."

Blossom hurried to her mother's side and held her hand. She had the cutest smile on her face. It pained Noodle to have to move again, but hopefully it would be the last. To be honest, she wasn't even sure if they'd move right away, it all depended on the development of that night.

"I like this school, mommy," Blossom said and Noodle smiled at her too.

"You did?" the girl nodded. "We'll see if we get to stay, and then I'll enroll you, okay?"

"Okay."

"Ms. Noodle," the teacher called again sounding confused and Noodle looked back at her. She didn't say anything else, so Blossom waved at her.

"Goodbye, Ms. Simone," the little girl said. "Nice to meet you."

The teacher waved too.

"Nice to meet you too, little Blu Pot."

Noodle and Blossom got out of the school and crossed the parking lot, reaching their car in less than five minutes. Well secured in her chair, Blossom told her mother about the day in school she just had while Noodle drove through the roads of the city, the address in her GPS taking her in the opposite direction from where they lived.

" _We build sand castles that washed away_ ," Blu started to sing as they road, the view from her window showing the beach down there. " _I made you cry when I walked away_."

She sounded like a little angel just like her daddy, and it made Noodle smile. Of course Blossom's voice would mature and change with time, but for Noodle she was a precious talent. Everything about her feelings towards her daughter were new for Noodle, seeing that she never had a mother to look up to, and every day she learned something new from that small human being.

" _And although I promised that I couldn't stay, babe, every promise don't work out that way. Oh babe..._ " They sang together. That Beyoncé song had been Blu's lullaby since she was in the womb and Noodle suspected she was born knowing the lyrics. " _Every promise don't work out that way…_ "

At a stop sign, Noodle decided to check the glove compartment just out of habit. She wasn't planning on using it before that night, when she'd come back alone, and it was a fact that she cared it with her whenever she went, but she wanted to take a look at it.

She got the box out of the compartment and set it by her side on the passenger seat before continuing on the road. After the events in El Mañana, back when she had to spend some time in hell, Noodle heard these rumors, so interesting that they gave her the last bit of strength she needed to crawl back to earth.

During the following years, she had been focused on two things: to get back home, and to figure out a way to bring him home too, or at least set him free. Noodle had been putting together that jigsaw puzzle for a decade now. That was why she went to Spain, where Blossom had been born, and why she was in Hawaii now, after wandering through so many mystical lands.

Maybe she was facing her final destination now, she wondered as she looked through the window of her car, observing the crossroad ahead. She had reached her destination and parked by the sidewalk facing the place where everything would come together and she'd have all the things she needed to go back home.

Smiling, Noodle turned the key in the engine to start the car again and glanced in the rear view mirror quickly to check on Blossom. Her little girl was quietly singing another song now, one of these school music about the ABC in an true island rendition and the next thing Noodle knew was that there was a truck behind her coming at full speed and knocking the back of her car, propelling them forward.

The next thing Noodle knew was that she was waking up upside down, secured only by her seat belt. Gasping and shocked, she looked around dizzy, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Blossom?" she called. Noodle was certain that she had secured Blu in the car chair, and if she was fine and talking, so should be her daughter, right? "Blossom?" she called again turning her head to the back seat hoping to see the girl there, but what she found was an empty seat.

Desperation rose inside her as she reached for her boot to get the flick knife she kept there and cut the seat belt with shaky, slicky fingers, hitting the roof of the car with a painful 'thud' and cutting herself in the shattered glass.

That was when she heard the cry.

Armed with adrenalin beyond what she thought she possessed, Noodle crawled out of the car, stood up and looked around just to see a light skinned man about Russel's height, but way skinny dragging Blossom with him to the other side of the crossroad.

"Mommy!" Blu called out and Noodle took a deep breath. She pushed her hair from her face with her forearm, and her skin came out covered in blood, but she didn't care at all.

Closing the flick knife, Noodle nodded and put it in her back pocket before she walked to the trunk of her car and kicked it open. Two could play at this game, and she wasn't called Axe Princess for nothing.

"It's okay, baby, mommy is coming," she assured kicking at the trunk again.

Blossom was doing her best to give her raptor a hard time, but she was only nearing her fourth birthday and didn't have much strength to fight a full adult. With a third kick, the contents of the trunk fell on the ground and Noodle quickly checked them over.

"Baby Blu, I need you to close your eyes, okay?" she instructed looking at her daughter over the car. "You'll be fine, all you have to do is stay still and close your eyes, can you do that?"

"Yes, mamma," Blossom said, her voice small. Noddle didn't know why the raptor hadn't spoken yet, but some demons weren't good talkers anyway.

She didn't have the time to assembly a gun and it even wasn't her style, so she got the double bladed swords and another couple of knives that she quickly stored in her belt before she lunged forward in rage, longing to free her daughter.

As soon as she hit the asphalt of the crossroad, they came from the ground, at least half a dozen demons in smoke and shadow. If _those_ where the demons, that could only mean…

With a quick glance towards the man that held her daughter, Noodle saw him as what he really was – a changeling. Every demon changeling, in order to survive in a human body needed light to keep the soul balanced. And his light wasn't standing still, that was the rumor that she heard.

He had been plucked from his resting place, but he wasn't willing to be used without putting up a fight. That was why the changeling was taking Blu, because he needed a kinder light and he wanted to take hers.

Noodle couldn't let him cross that road with her daughter.

"Keep your eyes closed, baby, I'm coming for you," she shouted.

Blinded by rage, Noodle made it through the demons with an experience and precision she was glad she had now, watching with odd pleasure as the changeling stumbled away from her unable to summon more demons to protect itself.

With her double swords she sent the demons back to hell, where they should never, ever left and staggered in his direction. He was dragging Blossom along with him as a human shield, but he wasn't counting on Noodle ditching the swords to run towards him and jump over him. She pulled her knives out just before the jump and twisted in the air gracefully, craving the blades in his spine – one at the base of his neck, the other between his lungs.

The impact caused a blast that propelled her back several feet and blinded her for an awfully long moment. Those knives, she had gotten them at the Vatican. And by 'gotten' she meant 'stolen' right from under their noses. They were rumored to be made of celestial steel and meant to free anything that was holy.

Gasping and momentarily blind, Noodle laid on the ground catching her breath and wondering if she could move. She had landed hard on her left arm, and her body was too warm to process any injuries yet. If she pushed too hard… she knew it wouldn't be an easy recovery.

A small whimper fogged all of her other senses, then, and she turned around blinking several times to focus her sight. The sun was hitting the road in such an angle that laid an eerie feeling to the place. In the middle of the road, a ball of light held on to something.

"Blu?" Noodle called getting on her feet with difficulty.

The blood dripped from her left arm as she limped, but she didn't care. Between her and the light laid her knives and she picked them up as she walked towards the ball.

As she got closer, she realized that it wasn't a ball at all, but a man made of light, protectively holding on to Blossom. Noodle kneeled down in front of them and reached out for her daughter, whose little face was covered with tears, her nose running like crazy.

"You can open your eyes now, baby," Noodle said softly. "You're safe. Come on."

The man let go of Blossom as soon as Noodle reached out to get her daughter, and when she held her to her chest the girl started to sob even more.

"It's okay, baby, I've got you. I'm here. You're safe," she kept saying.

Noodle's eyes wandered to the man of light who was now standing in front of her and looking past them, towards the car. She almost didn't recognize him at first, but a friendly face was always welcoming, even in this place. One of the gates to purgatory.

She decided to follow his gaze and saw the box on the ground a few feet from them. It must've flew through the window when they crashed.

Noodle kissed the top of Blossom's head and put the girl on her feet before getting up too. She put the knives on her belt again, took Blu by the hand and walked to the box.

He followed them keeping a safe distance just in case, and watched Noodle kneel down and get the box with both hands, the little girl holding on to her shirt. She was so different now, how long had it been since he last saw her? He couldn't believe his Noodle-girl had her own baby girl already. She turned to him offering the box.

"It's my ticket out," he said. His voice was made of wind. Noodle nodded.

"But it's also another cage. Until we get home, I can't let you out." She seemed concerned about that, his imprisonment, and he guessed she was right to feel that way, seeing that he had been tied to something or someone since his teenage years.

"I guess it's a fair price to get to a final destination," he said shrugging. Noodle took a deep breath.

"How will that be?" she asked. "I mean, you're…"

"I don't know, Noods," he said and then smiled. "But don't you want to find out?"

Noodle nodded and offered the box to him again, her bloodied fingers opening the lid just slightly. He reached out and touched the lid too, being immediately pulled inside the box.

"WOW!" Blossom exclaimed with shiny eyes, forgetting for a moment all the horrors she just lived.

Noodle closed the box, sealing the last bit of light coming from him and took her daughter's hand again. The two of them walked away from the crossroad, and like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, all the colors changed as they crossed the street and sat on the sidewalk together, Blossom clinging to her mother's side like a baby koala, the box in Noodle's lap.

They didn't process the sirens until the paramedics were standing right in front of them asking questions that they couldn't answer with precision.

 _We were parked, the truck came out of nowhere_.

 _I don't know what happened, I just wanted to get my daughter out._

 _What_ about _the weapons? I thought the Land of the Free sold rifles on Walmart for a reason._

 _Look, all I want to do is go home. They're waiting for us_.

Home, where Rachel Pot kept revising the guests list for her son's 47th birthday. 47! She couldn't believe how time had passed by so fast, it was hard to think that her clumsy little boy was already 47 and with… she counted again – 11 kids. Her eldest grandson and granddaughter were in the middle of their Master degrees. Her youngest would be arriving at the airport in the next couple of hours.

"Rachel, we gotta go now if we want to arrive in time," David called her, bringing her back to Earth.

Right, they were meeting with Noodle and Blu in London and would drive them to Hastings. She checked her phone, grabbed the charger and put it in her bag before she headed to the car. David was closing the trunk, they had packed food and beverages for the trip to the coast, and since they weren't sure of Blossom's preferences, they just brought _a lot_ of options.

Rachel was so surprised when she got the call from Noodle a week ago. She got a half-arsed report about a car accident, holy knives and ghosts turned to angels, and how it delayed their trip back in 10 days because the doctors didn't want to let Noodle travel, but the best part had been when little Blu invaded their FaceTime.

" _These are your grandparents from your daddy's side, Blu, remember the photos? Say hi._ "

" _Hello, grandma and grandpa,_ " the little girl greeted with a toothy smile and tired eyes. She was wearing a beanie, had dimples in her cheeks and she was just so. cute! " _We're going home!_ "

They had talked for a little while that day. The girl had an odd accent, probably because she kept mixing up languages. Neither Noodle nor Russel ever told them where she had been these past five years, but they bet "everywhere" was a good guess, considering that Blossom used words in English, Japanese, Spanish and even some Hawaiian lingo.

"You think she'll like us?" David asked holding on to the steering wheel a little too hard for a car that wasn't even moving. They had just arrived at the airport.

"I hope so," Rachel said. "I mean, if she's anything like her siblings, I think we'll be fine. Right?"

They surely hoped so. They got out of the car to wait at the disembark and not long after Rachel spotted Noodle coming down the hall pushing a cart with her bags and Blossom. She had changed so much from that little girl in a FedEx crate, and looked so mature now that she was a mother.

"Rachel, David," she greeted with shy hugs; sitting on top of their bags was little Blossom, tucked in a colorful jacket and with the beanie on, even though it was a nice spring day outside. "This is Baby Blu."

Up close, they could see the bruises on Noodle's skin – the little of it she was showing, for she too had a jacket on and jeans pants. Her hair was covering most of a cut on her forehead, but they could see the band-aid. Blossom, however, seemed unscathed and curious as to where she was. Her eyes wandered around the hall until she finally focused on the two people in front of her and smiled.

"Hi, grandma," she greeted, and Rachel thought she could melt. "Your eyes are blue."

Rachel and David exchanged a look and a smile.

"Yeah, they are."

"Daddy's eyes are black, I saw the pictures," Blossom continued. "But his hair is like mine."

She reached up to her beanie and took it off, letting a mess of blue hair fall on her shoulders and making her grandparents gasp.

"Holy Jesus," David said under his breath. "What happened?"

"She was born with black hair," Noodle explained. "But it fell off when she was a few months old and grew back up blue." She turned to her daughter. "Wanna show the pictures to Grandpa?"

Blossom nodded and reached for one of the bags, opened the zipper and took out a photo album. Rachel reached out and smoothed her hair fondly.

"You made a five years album," she commented surprised and Noodle nodded.

"When she was close to be born and I hadn't even gotten the box, I knew I wouldn't be back as fast as I wanted. I had to record her first years to Stu."

David nodded looking at the pictures and smiled.

"Nice of you," he said and then took a deep breath. "How about we get going? It's a couple of hours to Hastings, and we can start catching up on the road."

"That sounds great!" Noodle agreed. "How's the weather?"

"Nice and warm," Rachel said. David started pushing the cart with the bags and they walked to the exit. "No need for all those layers."

"Well, we _were_ in Hawaii," Noodle pondered, but she took off her jacket anyway. She was wearing a light blouse under, and they could see more bruises, as well as a long cut on her left arm.

"Noodle girl, what have you been through this time?" Rachel asked a little shocked.

"The bad man hit our car and tried to take me," Blossom said calmly. "But mom and the angel saved me."

"Is that angel story really for real?" David asked frowning. Noodle shrugged.

"I actually don't know _exactly_ what he became, but I guess angel is close enough," she answered. "He did make it through, but the demons pulled him out. Now he's safe again."

"After all the trouble ol' Russel went through," Rachel said shaking her head.

They reached the car and had to rethink the disposition of bags along with all the food there was in the trunk because they didn't think Noodle would have so many luggage.

"So," Noodle said helping Blossom out of her jacket while David fixed the car seat for her. "How many women have come to your doorstep claiming to have a kid with Stu?"

Uncomfortable, Rachel shrugged.

"A couple…" she said. Noodle frowned. She could swear she heard of at least four other Pots around the UK.

"A couple?" she echoed.

"… dozen?" Rachel corrected.

"A dozen?" Noodle frowned even more.

"Try again," David said from inside the car.

" _A couple dozen?_ " she exclaimed and Rachel nodded.

"More or less," the elder woman said.

"Holy shit," Noodle said with a small gasp and looked at her daughter sadly. "Baby, I think it's time you know you're not special."

"What, of course she is!" Rachel corrected almost in a panicked way. "She was made out of love, wasn't she?" Noodle nodded. "Then she's special. You're very special, honey."

"Thank you, grandma," Blu said with a little bow. Rachel wasn't sure she could handle the cuteness of that little girl. Her newest granddaughter. It was amazing that they managed to come back right before Stu's birthday.

"All right, Baby Blu!" David said clapping his hand. "All set. Let's go?"

Blossom nodded and raised her arms for him, letting him take her up. The gesture surprised him a little, but despite the shock of her quick trust David got her and put her in the car seat. He offered her a sandwich and a box of juice that she accepted happily and Noodle sat by her side, her bag between her legs.

"All good, baby?" she asked and Blu nodded.

"Eat some, mommy," the girl offered, but Noodle shook her head.

"Not now," she said and pointed the trunk behind her. "There's more where that came from, I don't think we'll starve for a week."

"We weren't sure what she'd like," Rachel said apologetically. David started the car and Noodle smiled. "And there are some things for Stu's party."

"Is it tomorrow?" Noodle asked and they nodded. Tomorrow was D's birthday, but it would also be a Thursday, a weird day for a party. "How many people confirmed the presence?"

"Quite a few," Rachel said. "Out of his kids, only Aaron, Keith and Chastity can't come, because they're living abroad."

"Chastity?" Noodle exclaimed. "Stu has a daughter called _Chastity_?"

David chucked and Rachel glanced at him before she turned around in her seat to face Noodle.

"You know, he didn't pick any of the names. Blossom, sweetie, are you excited to meet your dad and seven siblings tomorrow?"

"Seven siblings?" Blu asked with her mouth full and looked at her mother. Noodle was frowned.

"I thought you said a couple dozen."

"Sweetheart, you asked me how many went to our door, not how many were actually legit," Rachel reasoned. It made sense. "Trust me, there were _a lot_ of scammers, but you can't fool _me_."

"You really can't," David agreed. "She had them all tested, even the blue haired ones."

"Can't be too careful," the elder woman said gravely. "Even that Paula tried to scam us. Of course she didn't go directly to Stu, like Farrah's and Richard's mothers, but I saw her son."

"Paula, ex-guitarist Paula? The –" Noodle started and Rachel let out a disgusted grunt.

"That one. Thought she could let her boy pass as Stu's, stupid girl."

"Paula had a son…" Noodle mumbled fishing her phone. What was her last name again? Cracker, Paula Cracker. Quick google… dig a little deeper… "Oh, my God."

"What?" Rachel said seeing the guitarist's smile. Noodle looked up at her.

"You think Murdoc knows?"

Rachel shrugged and Noodle's smile widened. That was _so_ perfect.

"Grandma, what are the names of my siblings?" Blossom asked and sipped her juice.

"Well… did you meet any of them, Noods?"

"Only one, the girl who worked at Starbucks."

"Mel," Rachel nodded. "She's the third eldest. Actually, her older siblings are working in Eastbourne at the moment, they're in the same university. The eldest of them all is Brandon, just a few months older than Crimson; some would say they're like twins, growing together like they did. They are almost 24. Bran is in social studies and Crimson is in chemistry. There's Melody, who's from London and she's 22. She's a chef and mixologist, or at least she's studying to be. Then there's Farrah, who's an artist. Feisty little thing, that girl. She's 20."

"Melody told me there are a lot of girls," Noodle commented.

"Seven with Blossom," Rachel confirmed. "Farrah is from Manchester. After her is Aaron, who's 19 and studying law in Sydney. Keith, he's 17. He's from Glasgow, but his step-father was transferred to New Zealand, so he moved; he's still in high school, like Chastity, Leigh, Greta and Rich. Chastity is 17 and lives in South Africa with her mum. Leigh and Greta are 16, one from Edinburgh, the other from Blackpool. And Richard is 15, from Belfast."

"Brandon, Crimson, Melody…" Blossom mumbled to herself frowning. "Farrah… Aaron… Keith, Chastity, Leigh… Greta, Richard."

"Don't worry, sweetheart," David said looking at her through the rear view mirror. "You'll have plenty of time to get to know all of them. Your father, he's always reaching out to them."

"I know Russ know all of them too," Noodle said thoughtfully. "And that some were in one of our music videos, Dirty Harry."

"That would be Bran and Crim," Rachel said. "They were so little."

"I remember Russel kind of shielded me from them," Noodle continued frowning more. "I couldn't quite figure out why he wasn't letting me near the kids much. And then, when we got together to record Humanz and I met Melody, he told me it was because he didn't want me involved in the Pot's drama."

Rachel and David chuckled.

"I've always liked the way Russel raised you, Noodle girl," David said. "He was the only one who knew what to do and what would be best for you."

Noodle smiled. That was true. The most absolute truth there was, and the reason she was so devotedly committed to do this one little thing for him. She looked at the bag between her legs fondly. It had been such a long shot, from the rumors heard in Hell to actually finding the box and finding _him_. Noodle could barely wait to have her family reunited again.

"Don't you want to take a nap, Blu?" Rachel asked. She kept turning around to look at her. Noodle supposed that Blossom's resemblance with 2D was enough to enchant her grandparents. Blu shook her head.

"She slept the whole way from Honolulu to Atlanta and part of the way from Atlanta to London, so…"

"I'm not sleepy," Blossom said handing the empty juice box to her mother. "I want to see my daddy."

"Well, we're almost there," David guaranteed.

The short building they had in Grand Parade, Hastings had a beautiful view to Hastings Beach and homely wooden windows in every floor, with balconies charmingly greeting the warm sunshine. It was also where 2D spent most of the time, now that Russel was desperately stuffing his spare room with God knew what and wanted him out of the way.

That building wasn't _oh, so big_ , just large enough to fulfill their needs. Different from what happened before, Murdoc only got to buy it after Russel approved of the purchase. 2D had never seen Mordoc seek for anyone's approval before – well, at least no one from the band -, but this time it had been different.

Before getting the call hardly six months ago about the new place, 2D had been living in Belfast, which allowed him a little more time with his younger son. He'd been working with a local artist as a wordsman for her little Youtube channel thingy and it had been fun.

He had a lot of sad love songs written ever since his Noodle left, stuff Murdoc said they were over since Plastic Beach, but how could he write happy things without her? Music was the only thing keeping him sane, keeping him from falling back to drinking and painkillers, now that he had a new doctor and all. Three years ago, he had been taken to the hospital against his will, too weak to fight back, and Russel made him promise that he wouldn't fall back to old habits, that he had to find a new way.

He didn't know why it mattered so much, but listened anyway.

And well, music had always been his only way, so Stuart focused on that.

"How is he?" Noodle asked in the car when it turned around at the Boulevard. It was particularly sunny in Hastings that afternoon and the beach was packed with people in light clothes and colorful hats to protect their fair skin. She looked from her tanned arms to her daughter's, thinking fondly of the Hawaiian weather that kissed their skin for the past year. She'd miss it. "Stuart."

"I believe you saw the news," David said, not daring to turn around to look at them, not even with the red sign on. Whenever he wanted to address her, he'd look in the mirror. Noodle nodded.

"I called, and he said he was fine," she said. "But never spoke of it again. What happened?"

"He was with Farrah and Russ at a football game in Liverpool when he got one of his migraines," Rachel told her quickly. Blossom was looking out the window at the people and the beach. "It was bad, Nood, really bad. They took him to the hospital and everything, the news were blasting and it'd take me way too long to arrive. Even that evil pickle man you call family flew over to see him."

Noodle tried not to smile at the nickname.

"Murdoc adores D," she said firmly. "He won't ever admit it, but he does."

Rachel frowned at her.

"I don't like how he's shown adoration to my son, you know that. But he went too, claiming it was about time we looked for new treatment for Stuart, that he had contacts that could help."

" _Murdoc_ found him help?" Noodle asked sounding more surprised than she thought she would be."

She saw the way Rachel's eyes filled with tears as she nodded once.

"I think it's only fair, he was the one who put my Stu in that position."

"Rachel, Stu's had those migraines his whole life."

"But what, with the car accidents and the kidnappings and the constant beatings, Niccals did not help!" she protested and then took a deep breath when Blossom whimpered surprised. She swallowed. "Not until he did. And he did, sweetheart. Stu won't ever be the same, we know that. But at least now he's better. You'll see."

It was good to be here in person and get some details. Whenever Noodle would leave, she always felt like her big goals contributed to some distance from her family that she was not aiming for. She could not make Russ or Murdoc tell her everything through calls or emails, and she could not trust the media to give her full reports. And when she'd come back, she'd already had missed too much to be aware of the details.

That was why she had called the Pots to go get her, because she knew that Rachel wouldn't leave her out of what was important.

The car moved slowly in the busy Boulevard, passing by restaurants and theatres and stores. This place would be their new home. David leaned over on the steering wheel when they stopped yet in another red light.

"We're almost there," he said.

From the balcony of the third floor where he lived, Stuart narrowed his eyes. He could swear he saw his parents' minivan down the corner, but he didn't have his glasses on, so everything was extra blurry. Besides, there were a lot of minivans around whenever the weather was nice, so that wouldn't be surprising.

"Oi, Faceache!" Murdoc called two stories up and 2D stuck his head out to look up. The bassist was leaning from the studio's balcony. "Come up here."

"Why?"

Murdoc made a face.

"'Cuz I'm saying so, 'at's why! You 'ave to question ever'ing!" when he was mad, his accent would get extra thick.

With a deep breath, 2D got up. He smashed the butt of his cigarette on the ashtray that he kept there, left his pen and notebook on the chair he had been occupying and headed to the lift just in time to see Russel locking the door of his spare room, a fine line of sweat on his bald head.

"All set, Russ?" he asked as he passed by the drummer and Russel smiled.

"Perfectly," Russel replied and accompanied him to the lift, pressing the down button after 2D pressed the up button.

"You know, we can switch floors, if you want," D suggested and Russel shook his head.

"It's alright, D," he said lightly.

2D didn't have a say on which floor he'd have. As a matter of fact, he hardly listened to the whole arrangement of the building. He was fine with the last floor being the studio, because awesome! But as for where to live, he didn't care much. Russ kept bringing back the fact that they needed a place for Noodle and Murdoc was easy to agree that she'd obviously stay with Stu. After that was settled, Russel also insisted that 2D should have the third floor, because it had two potential bedrooms, which wasn't something he actually cared about, but let the man make the arrangements.

Russel had always been the one to divide things fair and square, so who was 2D to contradict him?

They got in the lift together going up first, and 2D stepped in the studio leaving Russel behind on his way down. He stepped in the recording room where Murdoc was frowning at a crumpled piece of paper and waited until he was noticed.

"Great, took you long enough," Murdoc complained going up to him and shoving the paper in 2D's chest. "Take a look at this and fix it."

2D frowned, but checked the paper anyway. It was a song, of course, and it took him a moment to make out the words in it. He knew that Murdoc was eager to start creating something new, a new concept for a new album, but he'd been struggling to find it.

"I really hope that girlfriend of yurs comes back with a whole new brilliant album again, because this is killing me," Murdoc complained a little more as 2D headed to the piano getting a pencil from the table on his way there.

"I have enough for a new album and ya know that," the singer said sitting down but not lifting the lid that covered the keys of the piano.

"We are not releasing another depressing album, 2-Dents," Murdoc censored pointing at him. He seemed thoughtful. "I don't think that should be our theme this time."

Yeah, well, 2D didn't know what should be their theme either, but to be fair, that song Murdoc thought needed fixing wasn't that bad at all.

"You know, I actually like this one," he said, the tip of the pencil following the lines of the lyrics.

Instead of going to his apartment in the second floor, Russel had gone all the way to the common area at the ground floor, because he wanted to make sure everything was in place in the kitchen for later. He guessed he should've checked his phone before going down, because if he had, maybe he wouldn't be so surprised to see the door open and the Pots pouring in with bags after bags.

He did know, though, that it had been a good idea to give them a copy of the key.

"Russel-sama!" Noodle exclaimed dropping everything she'd been holding to run to him and hug him.

The initial shock of seeing her at his porch vanished as soon as he felt her arms around him, and the tears came almost instantaneously. His baby girl was back home. He hugged her too, carefully because he remembered she'd been delayed to come home sooner because she was in the hospital.

"I've missed you so much, Papa," she said, her head on his chest listening to his heart. Russel smiled.

"I've missed you too, baby," he said and reluctantly stepped back to take a good look at her. He pushed her bangs from the way and she flinched a little when he touched the curative on her forehead. "Goddammit, Noodle."

"It's not that bad," she said with a little smirk.

"Mommy?" a small voice called and Russel looked down and smiled.

By Noodle's side was the little girl he only saw through photos and very few FaceTime calls. Despite the azure hair and the undeniable Pot nose, he still could see his baby girl on Blu's mouth and the shape of her eyes. Her hair was in braids, no longer than an inch past her shoulders, and she also had bangs covering her black eyebrows, her eyes clear and blue like Rachel's.

If not for the Asian touch, she looked much like Brandon, so far the first and only to actually look like 2D.

Noodle put her hand on the girl's head urging her forward when Russel kneeled down in front of her and she smiled at him shyly.

"Remember grandpa Russ?" Noodle asked and Blossom nodded. "Say hi."

"Hi," she said timidly. Russel hoped that he wasn't intimidating her. She was so little, more than Noods had been when she came to them in that FedEx crate, and Noodle had been the tiniest 10 years old he had ever met.

Blossom reached out and touched his nose, and then his eyebrows, so Russel lowered his head a little more to let her touch his head.

"Where's your hair? Did it fall?" she asked. He shook his head laughing.

"No, I cut it. Hair is too much work, Baby Blu," he told her and she sighed.

"I agree," she said with a little pout, making his laugh more. "Everyone is always asking about mine."

"I bet they do," he said. She got closer to him and didn't hesitate when he motioned to take her in his arms. "It always happened with your brother Brandon. How was the trip?"

"I slept a lot," she said excitedly and Noodle laughed.

"She really did," she confirmed and Russel looked at Blossom.

"I'm sure it was because she wanted to stay awake once she arrived, amirite?" Blossom nodded avidly. "Excited to meet your family?"

"Grandma said I'm meeting seven of my siblings tomorrow!" she said excitedly.

"You will, that's true," he said and only then Russel looked at the Pots. They had finished bringing the things from the car and were standing by the luggage, behind Noodle. "Hello Rachel, David."

They greeted with half hugs and handshakes before Russel offered them glasses of water or juice and led them to the lift, all the while still holding Blossom, who seemed enchanted by the place.

"Is this our new home?" she asked.

"More or less, Blu," he answered pressing the up button. "This is the common area. It had walls and rooms, but I tore them down for your daddy's party and I'm thinking about keeping it this way, so we can all come and watch TV together every now and then, and have Sunday family meals, what do you think?"

"Cool," she said breathily. They all packed the elevator and Russel asked for the person closer to the panel to hit the fifth floor button.

"It _is_ cool," Noodle agreed.

"I live in the second floor," Russel continued. "The one with the best kitchen, it is. You can come whenever you want, Baby Blu, because we'll live really close. Your mom and you will live in the third floor with your dad. You have your own room and everything, and a big living room that's probably a mess right now, because D spends most of the time there. Fourth floor is where Murdoc lives. You might not want to go there, because he's a nasty old man."

Noodle couldn't help but snort out a laugh shared by the Pots and Blossom looked around curious and amused.

"And fifth floor?" she asked.

"It's our Gorillaz studio. I think you know we're a badass music group."

Blossom nodded.

"Mom makes music for me all the time."

The lift stopped and its door opened to the large hall that led to the studio. That floor had a small kitchen, two bathrooms, a recording room with the instruments and the attached producing room. It had been, by far, the most expensive thing they had ever put together, more than the plastic beach fifteen years ago.

Russel put Blossom down as they walked down the hall. Noodle walked ahead of them and only then Russel noticed that she was carrying a bag with her. It didn't look heavy, but filled and he wondered why she had it. They could help her unpack later.

Murdoc and 2D's voices echoed on the hall, the door of the studio being open, but they stopped abruptly once Noodle stopped at the door. Russel and the others flanked her.

"Noodle luv," Murdoc gasped and she smiled.

2D was sitting by the piano all wide eyes and jaw dropped, unable to speak. Noodle stepped in the room carefully, giving them space to go in as well, one by one. She passed by Murdoc touching his arm gently and acknowledging him with a smile, but her focus was on 2D.

"Hi, Stu," she said softly. Russel wasn't sure he had seen anyone but her, so concentrated D looked at her. He reached out and held her hand letting out a gasp when she clasped her fingers in his.

"You're really here," he said out of breath.

"I told you I would come back to you," Noodle said.

2D looked at her up and down very slowly to make sure that he wasn't letting anything escape, not even the smallest of the details. His Noodle, his love, never broke a promise. She looked mature and beautiful as always, even though she was bruised. Where her skin didn't give away to purple and yellow, she was tanned, and her hair fell nicely on her shoulders. What a sight.

Behind her, as he looked down, he saw a little girl that made him frown. She came to him soundlessly and curiously, looking like a blue haired angel, and cocked her head as she approached. She looked like Noodle, but she looked like him too, with those blue eyes he used to have.

"Daddy?" she said, her voice something nice and soft, like the feathers of a baby bird.

2D gasped and looked up at Noodle, whose smile didn't falter. She nodded at him once and the little girl came closer.

"This is our daughter Blossom," Noodle introduced. "She turns four in a couple of weeks."

"Another Gemini?" he heard Murdoc say, but all 2D could focus on was the girl looking up at him with so much interest. He looked at Noodle again.

"Is this why you left?" he asked, unable to hide the hurt in his voice. Noodle shook her head.

"No," she said.

"Is this why you didn't come back?" he asked too. He had to. She shook her head again.

"No," Noodle told him with sincerity. She let go of his hand and stepped back, going to Russel's side as she opened her bag and got something out. A wooden box adorned in gold, not too big, but also not small enough to go unnoticed. She turned to Russel and offered it to him. "That's why."

"Is that a Pandora's box?" Murdoc asked and 2D frowned when Noodle nodded. He didn't think that the Pandora's box was an actual thing, though he did enjoy mythology. He liked stories.

Reluctantly, Russel reached out and took the box Noodle was offering with both hands, and she bowed respectfully. A small hand on his wrist caught 2D's attention and he looked down again at the girl. His daughter.

"Blossom," he said, testing the name on his tongue and liking it. Blossom Pot, his baby daughter with Noodle.

"People call me Blu," she told him and his eyebrows went up. Nice nickname.

"Well, I'm Stuart. People call me 2D."

She stopped in front of him, so tiny and shiny, and climbed to his lap without asking for permission. He leaned back to give her space, and once she was settled on his legs she reached out with both hands touching the stumble on his chin and then the bags under his eyes, taking particular time on his nose and then his hair. She touched the strands with amazement, and then she touched her own hair and smiled toothily.

2D took a deep breath and let the air out slowly. She smelled of salty and wind and sweat and he wondered where they'd been and how long did it take the trip here.

"Hi, daddy," she greeted, not waiting for his answer to hug him, bony arms around his neck making him gasp again, his heart beating like crazy after what felt like a long time just fluttering.

Smiling, 2D hugged her too. She was so small and light. He looked up and saw his parents there, his mum wiping the tears from her cheeks, and wondered if they knew about Blu. Wouldn't they tell him if they did? Probably not without Noodle's approval, he was sure. Across the room, on the sofa, Russel was sitting down with the box in his hands and not moving.

2D looked at Noodle again and she was smiling. When they had some time alone, then he'd ask everything. It wouldn't happen anytime soon, Stuart was aware, with everyone coming to his birthday party and all, but they'd have time to talk, alright. He'd waited for so long, what were another couple of days?

"Where you been living?" he asked.

"Recently, Hawaii," Noodle answered. He felt Blossom sigh, her breath on his neck as her head rested on his shoulder.

"But this is home," the little girl said and sat straight to look at him. "Mommy said this is our home."

"Whenever we're with you," Noodle said making him smile even more.

2D reached out and held Noodle's hand again, grateful for finally having her here again with him. He missed her so much, his best friend and little love, and they had so much catching up to do. Blossom moved on his lap, catching their attention. He wanted to ask how she knew so much about him and recognized him on the spot. His other kids weren't as welcoming when they first saw him, not because he was intimidating – he couldn't be further from intimidation -, but because he was tall and weird and his eyes were broken.

"You must be exhausted," 2D said looking from Blu to Noodle. Blossom didn't look tired, but Noods had bags under her eyes. She let out a little sigh.

"A little," she said and Stu put Blossom down before he got up.

"Come on, you should rest," he said stepping towards the door, but pausing almost immediately. "Oh, crap."

"What?" asked his mum, who was standing practically in front of him, his dad by her side.

"Where's Blu gonna sleep? I had a spare room, but Russ needed it. We can't leave her in the living room!"

"It's okay, really," Noodle said calmly. She still held his hand, Blossom on his other side looking up at him. "We can arrange, D."

"But she deserves her own room," he protested, starting to get anxious. He couldn't disappoint Blu in her very first day home!

"She has one," Russel spoke up, looking up from the box he still held. 2D frowned.

"Where?"

Russel smiled enigmatically and got up, leaving the box on the sofa. He didn't have to say a word to have everyone following him. The lift wasn't big enough for everyone, so Murdoc, Rachel, David and Russel took it while 2D, Noodle and Blossom used the stairs to the middle floor. As soon as they opened the door of the emergency exit, Russ took out the key from his pocket and headed to the spare room he'd been working in the past week, everyone packed in the hall.

All that time, Stuart though that Russel had been using the room to his taxidermy things, but when the door was opened they discovered the most colorful and rad girl room 2D wouldn't ever be able to put together. Blossom's eyes were wide with amazement as she stepped in her bedroom looking all around. There was Wonder Woman merch all around, including the sheets, toys and posters on the walls.

"Wow!" Blu exclaimed and Russel sighed.

"I tried to follow a little the pics Noods sent of your room in Hawaii, but also make it different. Do you like, baby?"

"It's awesome, grandpa!" she jumped on the bed, hugging it. "I love Wonder Woman!"

2D clasped Russel's shoulder friendly and gratefully and the two men exchanged a smile. That's why they worked so well together, they always knew what was necessary for the other at the right moment.

Turning to Noodle, who was leaning against his side, 2D held her shoulders bringing her closer. She looked up at him with tired eyes and he nudged her to the side, starting on the way two doors down. She needed to rest and he had a big ass bed where she could sleep.

"I have to unpack," she said when he opened the door and she saw the welcoming messy bed.

"No, you don't," he replied leading her to the bed. She sat on it and he helped her out of her boots. "We'll bring everything up and after you rest we'll take care of what's got to be done."

"Okay…" she mumbled dropping down like a stone, which made him chuckle. Noodle was such a heavy sleeper, had always been. She had been trained to snap out of sleep on the sign of danger, but once that button was switched off, she'd fall back in sleep.

He fixed her in the bed, tucking her with a light blanket and touching her face mesmerized. How long had it been since she crossed the door of the studio? Forty minutes? It felt like a lot more and not enough already.

Half of them went downstairs while the other half stayed in the middle floor taking the luggage that was sent on the lift. 2D pilled everything in the living room, and then Blossom indicated him what was hers, so he took her things to her room. She showed him her baby album and he saw that she used to look a lot more like Noodle when her hair was black, but it only lasted six or seven months.

Stuart found out that his daughter was born in Spain on June 5. When she was a few months old, Noodle moved to Italy, and around her 1 year anniversary they lived in Greece. During his daughter's brief four years of life, she lived in almost every country of Europe, some Asian, South American and settled for longer in Hawaii. He suspected she had almost as many miles as he.

Noodle slept through lunch and dinner, and Stu had time to catch up with his parents. They wouldn't be staying with them, having reserved a room at the hotel down the corner, and they would come back the next morning to finish the preparation for the party. They were expecting about 50 people between family and friends, and the label wanted to have another party on the weekend for publicity purposes.

They were all in the common area watching a movie – _Justice League_ ; apparently, his daughter was superhero crazy – when Noodle came down looking refreshed and rested. She was wearing one of 2D's shirts, long enough to go down the middle of her thighs and her hair was wet, the bandage on her arm looked new. 2D smiled when he saw her.

"Hungry, love?" he asked and she shook her head – partly nodding, partly waving it off.

Noodle stopped in front of him and slid her fingers through his hair gently. It was a little past seven and the house still smelled of ground beef and mashed potatoes, but she didn't seem to care about food. She got closer and he tilted his head back letting her lean over and kiss him.

Gosh, he missed kissing her! His hands went to her hips making her sit down on his lap, and her arms were around his neck bringing him impossibly close. In a way, it was like their first kiss, sort of. She felt solid and real under his touch, sweet on his tongue. Five years without her, same fire. Exact same f-

"OI! We trying to watch a movie here!" Murdoc interrupted, throwing a cushion at them. He pointed at Blossom, who was sitting between him and Russel on the sofa. "Children in the room. Go get a room, you pervs."

They laughed, in part because Murdoc calling anyone a pervert was a joke in itself, and in part because it actually was a good idea, and then they got up and stumbled to the lift.

"Her bedtime is nine," Noodle informed tangled in 2D as they stepped in the lift. "Just get her up-"

"We've got this, Noods," Russel waved her off, not even looking in their direction. Blossom peeked at them as the doors closed.

"Mommy always said she missed daddy," she said leaning back on the sofa again. "I think they like each other a lot."

"A disgustingly amount, girlie," Murdoc replied and Russel punched his arm. " _What?_ It _is_ disgusting. Stop hitting me!"

Blossom slept halfway through the movie, but when Murdoc took her to the middle floor he came back a minute later with the girl still sleeping in his arms, a pained disgusted expression on his face. Russel frowned at him.

"Noise?"

The bassist just nodded. If he wasn't already green, Russel could bet he'd be sporting the color now.

"Let's just… finish the movie and then we see what we can do," he suggested sitting on the other side of the sofa again.

Murdoc put Blossom in the middle seat carefully, her head on his lap and her legs on Russel's. She was a tiny little thing, but not as little as one would think; her hair was free from the braids now, a royal azure like her father's, but he could see his Noodle in her too, quite evidently. He couldn't believe that Stuart managed to make such a precious little human, but he guessed most of the credit would go to Noodle.

Russel's chuckle brought Murdoc out of his reverie and he looked at the other man suspiciously.

"What?"

"I'm dying to see how you'll manage to pretend you don't care about D now that Blu is around," he commented sipping from a cup. Murdoc made a face and mumbled something unintelligible as a way of reply. "Sooner or later you'd have to drop the act, Murds."

"Shut up."

Murdoc fell asleep too, more towards the end of the movie, slumped on the sofa in an uncomfortable position and Russel skipped the credits to get to the extra scene that wasn't a DC thing, and then muted the TV.

The building was awfully quiet after that, unlike the street outside. Carefully, he pushed Blossom's legs aside and got up, heading to the lift. As full a day as it had been, Russel didn't feel tired just yet, and there still was something he had to do.

He headed to the studio, where the Pandora's box Noodle had worked so hard to get for him still laid in the beaten down sofa they had dragged from house to house until they settled in Hastings. He took the box carefully and traced the images carved and covered in gold that adorned it, his feet leading back to the lift and to the common area almost without him noticing it.

Once back down, Russel occupied the loveseat where 2D had been before and put the box on the coffee table. He couldn't stop looking at it and thinking, thinking, thinking. Thinking so much his head ached and spiraled and his eyes stung.

Russel didn't know how long he stared at the box and barely processed when Blossom woke up and sat by his side. She leaned against him holding his arm.

"The Man of Light is in that box," she said, her voice sleepy. "Mom said he's your friend."

Russel nodded, but didn't say anything. He was afraid to speak, to be honest. He suspected that once he opened his mouth, the nonstop questioning would pour down on them and suffocate them. He thought that the questions would be strong enough to keep him from opening the box.

But again, not speaking hadn't urged his hands to the lid yet either.

The lift beeped and opened as Noodle and 2D finally came back and Murdoc woke up startled. Russel glanced at the clock, seeing that it was way past Blu's bedtime.

"Baby, what are you still doing up?" Noodle asked passing by them. The TV was muted, the credits of _Justice League_ in a loop.

"We napped," Murdoc answered, his voice hoarse as his eyes followed D and Noodle going to the kitchen. He yawned and stretched, and reached for the remote to turn the TV off, but stopped short when he saw Russel staring at the Pandora's box. "You gonna open it?"

Russel shrugged and Blossom looked up at him. They heard the sound of the microwave and then 2D and Noodle were back in the living room, the light from the kitchen still on pushing away shadows in half of the room. Noodle sat on the armchair, a bowl and fork in her hands, and crossed her legs Indian style, looking at Russel too, 2D by her side.

"What will happen when I open it?" Russel asked looking up at her briefly. "How's he going to be? Will he still look seventeen? Can a person mature in the afterlife?"

"I don't know, Russ," Noodle said sincerely, mashed potato on her fork.

"What did he look like for you?" he asked and she settled the fork back in the bowl thinking.

"Celestial."

They said nothing about that and all eyes fell on the box. For a moment, they all considered what was on stake there and didn't come to any conclusions. There was only thing Noodle could think about, however.

"Russ-sama," she called and he looked at her. "I think he's done with cages."

Russel nodded. He was almost fifty, which meant that more than thirty years had passed since that fateful shooting that imprisoned them both. He was tired of cages too, to be quite honest. No one deserved to be locked to nothing.

He reached out and touched the lid of the box with trembling fingers. He could do it. He was the only one who should do it. It didn't matter the consequences, only the actions.

"The only place to go is up," Russel said with a sigh and swallowed, letting his body do the work without his mind taking over.

Hi lifted the lid and was blinded by the sudden light. Everyone in the living room had to lean back and shield their eyes, because it was so bright and so warm, yet so gentle and welcoming.

Celestial.

Baby Blu gasped and slowly, carefully they opened their eyes. The light was gone, only the TV and the kitchen illuminated the room again, and in the middle of the living room stood a tall figure, a black man with dreadlocked hair and a casual, familiar smile. He looked older, maybe in his forties, something between Noodle's and 2D's ages. Yet, he looked exactly the same.

He looked home.

His smile widened when he landed eyes on Russel and at that exact moment… the world felt right. Complete. Murdoc knew exactly what the theme of their next album would be. 2D rested a hand on Noodle's shoulder. Russel stood up, matching the man's height almost exactly, tears in his eyes.

"Yo, Russ," the man said warmly. "Long time, no see."

The air went still and soft. Together at last, their little family. Russel opened his mouth.

"Del."


End file.
